Increased Interest Revives Kiosk Plan

CHESTER — This town has a Web site, a newsletter and access to newspapers that cover its activities, so a $4,500 public bulletin board might seem like gilding the lily.

But this will be no ordinary bulletin board. This will be a kiosk, as special as the ones on Paris street corners. Maybe more so.

This one will have a copper squirrel on top of a copper roof, four sides for people to pin their notices, clapboard siding, a fancy sign that reads Chester and a detailed map of downtown affixed to the side facing Main Street.

The kiosk idea is certainly not a new one -- not even to Chester. The idea came up in the early '90s and again two years ago, but the funding always proved a stumbling block. The design was less of a problem with architects and designers in town each lending their expertise.

The latest revival of the kiosk looks like a go, however. The downtown merchants, spurred by Leslie Strauss, who is a managing broker with the Century 21 real estate agency in town, has raised $3,000 from 10 local businesses. The economic development commission is contributing another $500, and others have donated time, labor and materials, as has the town.

Chris Kovone of East Haddam is making the copper roof and Katherine Wright Peso, who owns the Hammered Edge shop, is designing the squirrel, which is the animal depicted racing in the town seal.

The squirrel will sit on a lightning rod atop the roof and will look like a weather vane, although it will be stationary, says Strauss.

The kiosk will be placed alongside the old water trough in front of the former Chester Bank. The side facing the road will be where the town tacks its announcements and where the new map will go, said First Selectman Martin Heft.

It's hoped the new kiosk will be lit by solar power, although Strauss said the technology might not be advanced enough to pull that off.

Although the kiosk will look like a 5-by-4 building, there will be neither an entry nor an interior.

Though the money and permits are in place, construction might have to wait until spring, because the design has to be scaled back a little, Strauss said.